Alexandria Levee Still Holding

 Alexandria Levee Still Holding

updated Thursday morning

The Mississippi River at Keokuk is holding  just below 27 feet, and is no longer expected to top the 1993 record of 27.6 ft.  Water levels should start dropping through the weekend.

The situation is looking better for Alexandria. As of 10AM Wednesday, June 18, the Mississippi River, the flood waters were leveling out at just below 27 feet, which is slightly less than the record crest of 1993.

“We’re cresting here now,” said Alexandria Mayor Bob Davis. “The next few hours will be critical.” Levee breaks both up and downstream from Alexandria have relieved some of the pressure on the town’s levees.

“We still have a couple days to let the water go down. The levees are getting soft, but if the water goes down, we’ll be okay.”

Davis said his town’s levee patrols made the difference. Despite a request from Homeland Security officials to pull all the people, Davis stood his ground.

“If we had pulled the sandbaggers and levee patrol, we may as well have cut a trench in the levee,” Davis said.

Later today, two additional pumps from the Mississippi Des Moines Levee District will begin pumping seep water from the town.  Davis wants the water level to drop off the streets, but leave the ditches full.

Davis again thanked and praised the volunteers for their efforts.